Perpetual check

In the game of chess, perpetual check is a situation in which one player can force a draw by an unending series of checks. This typically arises when the player who is checking cannot deliver checkmate, and failing to continue the series of checks gives the opponent at least a chance to win. A draw by perpetual check is no longer one of the rules of chess; however, such a situation will eventually result in a draw by either threefold repetition or the fifty-move rule. Players usually agree to a draw long before that, however. (Burgess 2000:478).

Perpetual check can also occur in other forms of chess, although the rules relating to it might be different. For example, giving perpetual check is not allowed in shogi and xiangqi, where doing so leads to an automatic loss for the giver.

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Chess Games, Volume 1 (1485–1866) includes all recorded games played up to 1800 (Levy & O'Connell 1981:ix). The earliest example of perpetual check contained in it is a game played by two unknown players in 1750: